Collar attachment



Nov. 18, 1947. l J, w, LES 2,431,053

COLLAR ATTACHMENT Filed Feb. 10, 1945 Patented Nov. 18, 1947 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE 2,431,053 comma ATTACHMENT Joseph Wl Less,Sacramento, Calif. Application February 10, 1945, serial No. 577,196

3 Claims. i

This invention pertains to devices for attachment to the collars ofshirts for preventing outward flaring of the collar points and forholding them close to the shirt front.

The object of the invention is to provide a Structure for attachment atone end either to a collar band or to the collar button of a shirt, andto attach the other end to the collar-point, being so arranged thatleverage set up between the two extremities of said structure providesfor a positive holding of said collar-points in their desiredinconspicious positions close to the shirt front, the structure beingquite simple but eifecti've, while low in cost of production.

Other objects will appear in the following de scrlpti'on of thestructure aided by the accompanying drawing forming part hereof, whereinFigure 1 shows the front of a shirt and its attached collar with thedevice of my invention.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of a portion of a shirt and collar ofFigure 1, much enlarged to better show the structure of my saidinvention.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the structure of Figure 2 wherein theshirt front is seen edgewise, together with th collar as it, appearsendwise. Figure 4 is a front elevation of a shirt front and collarwherein parts only of the invention are shown earlier but of a slightlydifferent form.

Figure 5 is also a front elevation of the shirt and collar with thelatter shown buttoned and with the ends of th separate device engagedwith the button.

Figure 6 is a transverse section of part of what is illustrated inFigure 2 taken on line 6-6 of that figure, but much enlarged.

Figure 7 shows, respectively an edge View and a side View of one type ofcollar point engaging structure, much enlarged, and

Figure 8 illustrates, respectively an edge View and a front view of amodified form of collar engaging structure, also much enlarged.

In Figures 1, 2 and 3 wherein I denotes a shirt front and 2 the attachedcollar thereof, is shown a length of spring wire 3 which may be of agauge and stiffness to bring about the result desired in use, and to bemade known herein.

The wire at one end, in this instance, is formed into a loop 4 as aconvenient arrangement, this in use being hooked over the so calledcollar band I adjacent the position from which the collar extends. Fromthe top of the loop thus provided the wire extends into the collarwithin the fold thereof and abuts the said fold at the base of said100p, and from thence extends inwardly along the fold, abutting the sameat 5. Preferably the wire is downwardly bent into the curved portion 6between the loop 4 and the position at 5, and from the latter the wireextends by the portion 1 in the direction of the collar-point, thenbeing recurved at 8, thence again extending toward said collar-point inthe portion 9, this portion being bent backward and forward intoseparate open loops, constituting a spring l0. At, its end below thespring thus created the wire may be formed into a helix Ill, Figure 7,terminating in a point II for engagement with the inner side of thecollar as suggested in Figure 3. Or, again, as in Figure 8 the wire 3'in another form may be bent back and forth upon itself as at 3 andterminate in the point 3 all portions lying in a single plane.

It is to be noted that, the described parts of the wire member all he inone plane as shown in Figure 3 except as to the loop 4 which engagesover the collar band I and except, also, for parts shown in Figure '7.In Figure 8 the arrangement may lie in the same plane with the lowerextension of the spring structure In.

The said spring structure Ill may be enclosed by a stabilizing envelopeor housing 8 preferably of metal. The upper extremity of the housingabuts the wire at; the bend 8 while the lower extremity of th springextends through the lower open end of said housing. In this manner thespring may be compressed and it can expand without respect to thehousing, the latter, however, serving to prevent buckling of the springwhen under compression. The space within the housing is such thatnormally its walls will not interfere by friction with the spring l3 ineither expanding lengthwise, or when compressed, the wire of said springshifting freely through the opening in the lower end of such housing. Atsuch times that the spring has a tendency to buckle the housing wallsserve as a stabilizing medium therefor until normal conditions arerestored.

As distinguished from the form of device shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3,the forms of Figures i and 5 show a slightly different arrangement. Thatis to say, the wires of the two devices constructed, as in said Figures4 and 5, instead of including the loops 4, are each furnished with aloop 4 to engage over the shirt button A as in Figure 5 and thus act inthe same capacity as the-first named loops as will now appear.

In placing a device in position it is slipped into the collar tosubstantially the position shown, the loop 4 being hooked over the stiffneck band I, or, as in the form in Figure 5 the loop 4' is engaged overthe button A as a part, so .to say, of the shirt structure. Followingthis, the wire at the portion 10', or 3 as the case may be, is raised bymeans of the fingers of the wearer to compress the spring 10 thusraising the impalement point II, or 3 for engaging the point with theinside lining of the collar. When released, the spring causes the pointto engage in .the said lining and in acting against the latter forcesthe part of the wire against the collar within the fold thereof.

The spring may be constantly under more or less compression andtherefore has a downward tendency of movement against the collar point.

Naturally, the spring under compression would tend to move thecollar-point outward or away from the shirt front but since the loop 4of the wire is by leverage held snugly upon the top edge of the shirtband, and since the inner side of the shirt band forms an abutment forthe said loop any such tendency of the spring to so swing thecollar-point outwardly is more than overcome both by the stiffness ofthe wire and the resistance thereof to torsional twist in that part 6lying between the loop G and the portion at 5. That is to say, both theloop 4 and the said portion at 5 are held from moving laterally and theportion 6 would be subjected to a torsional stress which it resists.This stress being greater than the force set up by the spring thereforeresults in the collar-point being held close to the shirt bosom, itbeing remembered that normally the wire throughout lies in one plane,apart from the loop 4, as stated earlier herein. Naturally, the loop 4of the Figures 4 and 5, if used, would serve to provide resistance totorsional action in cooperation with the button A, substantially thesame way as described with reference to the loop 4 and shirt band, sincethe shirt-band and button jointly prevent tilting of said loop 4therebetween.

The structure in Figures '7 and 8 are provided so that the collar liningwill abut I9 or 3 as may be, and not shift or slip upwardly on the wire,but other forms may be employed perhaps.

It is observed that in the form shown in Figure 8 the constituted arms 3lie above the position of the point-portion 3 one of said arms lyingeach side of said portion. By this arrangement the material of thecollar is prevented shifting upwardly as stated.

In anchoring the portion of the described structure 4 or 4' on a part ofthe shirt structure a leverage is obtained in respect to and controllinganother portion and it is clear that an advantage is gained. That is tosay, since torsional strains are placed upon the structure by thearrangement employed, together with flexing of the parts from a normalposition in one plane the position in engagement with the collar-pointis under full control and is made to positively draw said collarpoint toa proper and desired position close to the shirt front. It has beenstated that the wire portion 6 is preferably downwardly bent and thenupwardly extended to abut the collar fold at 5 This downward bend sincelying between the col- 4 lar parts serves, in the forward movement ofthe impalement point in manually engaging the collar, to set up an addedtorsional strain on the wire 5, I, 8 by bearing against the practicallyimmovable collar-fold as a resistance.

Minor changes may be made in the structure described without departingfrom the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a device for attachment to a shirt and its collar band forengaging an attached shirt collar, a spring wire member having a bentterminal portion adapted to engage over and upon the top edge of thecollar band behind the latter and abutting the collar edge at the frontopening of said collar, thence extending into the collar and abuttingthe fold thereof distant from the terminal portion, thence extendingdownwardly from its abutting position and terminating in a springportion and an impalement point, the named terminal portion extending ina lateral direction away from the plane in which fold abutting portionand downwardly extending portion lie, the torsional stress in the wirebetween said terminal portion and the fold abutting portion normallyurging the downwardly extending portion toward the bosom of the shirt.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein that portion of the wirelying within the collar and that portion extending downwardly liesubstantially at right angles to each other.

3. In a device for attachment to a shirt at a collar thereon, a springwire member having a terminal portion to engage over said shirt bandbehind the same and abutting the collar at the front opening thereof,thence extending therefrom into the collar and abutting the collarwithin the fold thereof, thence extending downwardly away from the fold,thence being extended upwardly and again abutting the fold at a positionin spaced relation to the first position of abutment, thence againextending downwardly and recurved upwardly forming an abutment, thenceextending downwardly and formed into a spring portion terminating in animpalement point, and a housing enclosing the spring portion and adaptedto engage the last named abutment.

' JOSEPH W. LESS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,723,202 Oliver Aug, 6, 19291,855,070 Rosen Apr. 19, 1932 1,881,124 Belson Oct. 4, 1932 1,919,661Lavick July 25, 1933 ,873,648 Keinath Aug. 23, 1932 FOREIGN PATENTSNumber Country Date 209,318 Switzerland June 17, 1940 218,357Switzerland Mar. 16, 1942

